Come Together, Then Rip It Apart

“Hey, Sinbad?”

Once the two men were done frolicking and splashing about in the pool, they now both leaned on the edge and looked up at the starry sky.

It was in the quiet of the evening that Shark said his fiance’s name. Sinbad grunted to indicate he was listening. Then Shark made his odd request known.

“Instead of cake for our wedding, can we have pie? Like, Snickers pie?”

Sinbad raised an eyebrow at this. “Kind of a weird thing to ask for on our wedding day. You sure that’s what you want, man?” Shark nodded eagerly.

“All right. Just make sure to tell our families about that idea. Personally, I’m cool with it.”

With that, the two leaned in closer and kissed on it. Before they could get any farther, however, they heard a splash nearby.

…

Sagebear doggy-paddled with the strength and speed of a renowned athlete, as she barreled towards the two with a gleeful expression on her face.

“Awwww…” Shark pulled away from Sinbad, and picked Sagebear up out of the water when she got close enough. Sinbad now approached them and petted the wet dog.

“What brings you out here, dog?” Sagebear didn’t seem to mind being attended to by two naked men. She just wagged her tail and let them pet and scratch her.

The answer to Sinbad’s question came in the form of Blaise wobbling over to them, before doubling over in pain.

“Oh, I tell ya! That doggy’s faster than she looks!” She said between labored breaths. Then she clutched her abdomen, in the midst of another pang of menstrual horror.

Seeing his stepmother in pain, Shark quickly handed Sagebear over to Sinbad and waded over to her.

“What happened, Mom?” Blaise was about to tell him what she saw when the others came running.

…

Once Shark and Sinbad were dried off and dressed again, Blaise gathered everyone around to explain why she was outside.

“What’s going on, Miss Kindle?” Amelia softly asked, quite concerned. “Has something happened to Mister Relevart?”

“Yeah! Did something happen to the time traveler?” Amara said next.

Blaise scratched her head trying to figure out how to explain it. “Yeah, I guess ya could say that. He, uh…I can’t really describe it, but I think he’s gone and lost his marbles.”

The twins looked at each other with fearful glances. Marc stepped closer to them to try and reassure them.

“It can’t be that bad, I think. Maybe it was just someone else?” This didn’t help. The women ran off back to Emit’s house, leaving him dumbfounded and a bit hurt.

Dennis stepped forward. “For everyone’s sake, I hope they don’t get hurt.”

In response, Harwood nodded. Sinbad glanced over at his father, and pointed out something bothering him:

“Why do you have a teapot on your head, old man?”

…

The stench of blood was thick in the air by the time Amara and Amelia arrived. The foyer alone was destroyed beyond repair, with ghastly claw marks everywhere.

“Mister Relevart?” Amelia called out into the darkness, receiving no answer. Both girls took each other by the hand to keep from being separated.

The further they went, the more tore-up the place looked. None of the lights Emit always had on seemed to be working. Amara clutched closer to her sister as they went up each floor.

On one of the balcony, next to the time portal, stood Emit. His head was craned skyward, unaware of the twins coming to him.

“Time traveler!” Amara called out to him when she and Amelia reached him. “What’s going on?”

Emit didn’t so much as acknowledge them. Instead, a figure from the shadows emerged, and handed him a well-worn hunting knife.

As soon as it was in his hands, Emit raised it up over his chest. A crazed grin spread across his face, and he whispered three words to himself:

“Vivat regina malum.”

Then, to the girls horror, he plunged the knife into his chest. Both were stunned into silence as he fell to the ground, blood pooling around him.

Immediately after, the enigmatic figure stepped towards Emit’s still warm body. Dipping their fingers into his blood, they then ripped their shirt open to expose their pale chest.

“Who…” Amara tried to ask who they were, only to collapse to the ground herself. Once again, her eye socket was bleeding.

“Amara!” Amelia fell beside her sister, before looking back up at whoever it was with them.

With an unsettling grin, they took their stained fingers and wrote the words ‘in se‘ across their chest.

“Too bad for you two,” they said to the girls. “I guess he wasn’t so great after all.”

The Builder then jumped to the railing, and looked back at the twins. Smirking, they waggled their fingers at them before jumping off.

Amelia shakily stood back up, and walked over to Emit’s corpse. Her intense shock and disbelief roiled within her as she said his name again.

Then, with Amara watching her while still holding her bleeding socket, Amelia let out an ear-splitting shriek. She could practically be heard across the entirely of the city.